MOSCOW. Sept 10 (Interfax-AVN) - The repair and upgrading of the Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Kuznetsov heavy aircraft-carrying missile cruiser are going according to the plan and are even ahead of schedule in case of some systems, an informed source told Interfax on Saturday.
"The operation to bring the aircraft carrier to the dock is scheduled for next week," the source said.
The source did not specify the deadline of the docking, pointing out that "some works in repairing the aircraft carrier's certain systems are ahead of schedule."
In April, the Defense Ministry and the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) signed a contract for Admiral Kuznetsov's repair and upgrade, and the USC's subsidiary Zvyozdochka Ship Repair Center has begun implementing it.
According to Russian Navy Deputy Commander-in-Chief Viktor Bursuk, during the repair, the aircraft carrier would be equipped with a naval option of the Pantsyr air defense system, new boilers, pumping units, and flight systems.
Admiral Kuznetsov's repair is expected to conclude by the end of 2020, and the aircraft carrier is to the return to the Russian Navy in 2021.
Admiral Kuznetsov returned to Severomorsk from the Mediterranean Sea in February 2017. The Russian Navy used shipborne fighter aircrafts Sukhoi Su-33 and Mikoyan MiG-29KR in combat for the first time in history. Pilots of aircraft carried by Admiral Kuznetsov conducted 420 sorties striking over 1,200 terrorist facilities in Syria.